(16) 'GOODBYE TO GUILDFORD TOWN'

[Ken]

                                                       
                                                     I said goodbye, to 'Guildford Town'
                                                           With its clock upon the hill,
                                            The cobbled streets, where friends would meet
                                                         Sometimes, I miss them still.
                                                          But I moved to another land
                                                    Where they spoke a different tongue,
                                                      But I did not forget, the folks I met
                                                        When old Ken Tuffs was young.

I can clearly recall my thoughts on that May morning when I locked the door of my Guildford home for the last time. We were leaving our beautiful house on the hill with its crunchy gravel drive. We were saying goodbye to its five bedrooms, three bathrooms and four loo's. Bidding farewell to its walled garden where we had played so many games and enjoyed countless Bar-B.Q's with friends and family.  The night before we had slept in an almost empty house. With the exception of the  beds, all the furniture had been loaded by the removal men the day before. We were leaving just a shell of what had once been our dream house. We were leaving Guildford town for the last time, and it hurt like hell!

With one last look at the home we had loved, we all got in the car. My wife, my ten year old daughter, my three year old son and our beloved dog, Winston. My wife started the car and we drove west, towards what I called the land of warmth and sun, Wales.  Six hours later we arrived at the hotel where we would spend the night. At noon the next day, after all legalities were completed, I opened the door of our new home for the first time and our future began...........

Almost three decades have passed since then and, looking back, I thank my lucky stars that fate stopped me being successful in the way I had once envisaged.  At first I thought that moving to our small home in Wales would be dreadful when compared with my old life.  I was so very wrong.  For a time we were financially poor but wealth has many faces.  One of them was time, and we were rich with time.   For the first time in a long time, I had time to think, time to see visitors, time to enjoy the company of old friends. Most of these people lived at least 200 miles away so they had to stay overnight, sometimes for several nights. They discovered my wife Jenny's cooking, enjoyed her wonderful breakfasts, they found out we always arose early and were annoyingly cheerful. Some complained about our choice of music as they nursed their early morning hangovers, but they still drove the 400 mile round trip with pleasing regularity. We recently worked out that one friend, Chris Bushell, has made the trip over sixty times, that's like driving to Australia and back, his visits enriched us, wealth indeed has many faces!
 
One of the greatest of the unexpected gains I received from my move to Wales was the regular visits of my brothers.  Almost every April and October since 1985, Bob, Len and Gordon have left their loved ones at home and journeyed to the land of warmth and sun. The family tales of yesteryear that have taken place around my old oak dining table are priceless, their worth is beyond value.  The pride I have in my wife for the obvious affection she has for my brothers can also not be measured. As she puts the food on the table for us to enjoy I sometimes catch her look of pleasure as she hears our laughter. She has heard us singing around that table and she has laughed at our jokes, she has smiled at Lens tall tales as she serves up more food to those who want it. She has, perhaps, shaken her head in disbelief, as a predictable political argument erupts, and marvelled at the strength of certainty all of the Tuffs brothers seem to possess.  I said earlier that wealth has many faces and to have such a wife spend so much time with such special brothers is a constant joy, another joy made possible because of my move to Wales.

So I can say with absolute certainty that events that seem to be disasters, can turn out to be godsends. My unwanted need to move to Wales enriched my life. It showed me the strength of friendship felt for Jenny and I by the likes of Danni Renggli, Colin Bowbrick, the Bushells and the Scotts. It provided a reason for the brotherly gatherings that would never have occurred had I remained in Guildford Town. In time we made our small welsh home special, and our garden, my Kingdom, unique. It has been the destination for hundreds of visitors and in days gone by the Pubs of my locality have relished news of their arrival.
 
I'm getting old now, and I'm truly content with my lot. To say you have everything you need is to be rich indeed, and I have. I would never wish to return to the big house on the hill.      





   

[Ken]

This tale is one of love for a way of life that was lost.  It tells how a feeling of hopelessness can be changed to one of hope, and how failure can become a stepping stone to a new kind of success!